France takes in 31 Yezidi families who were victims of Daesh – Press communiqué issued by the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs (8 August 2019)

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Today, Thursday 8 August 2019, France is taking in 31 Yezidi women who were victims of Daesh [so-called ISIL], together with their children. A flight from Erbil organized by the International Organization for Migration and funded by the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs landed early in the day at Toulouse-Blagnac airport.

This new group is being welcomed as a follow-up to two operations already coordinated by the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, in coordination with Interior Ministry services, in which 16 families were welcomed on 19 December 2018 and 28 families on 22 May 2019. It fulfils the commitment the French President made to Ms Nadia Murad, the 2018 Nobel peace laureate, to welcome to France 100 Yezidi families who were victims of crimes committed by Daesh.

These women, who suffered especially badly from the terrorist organization’s atrocities, are being cared for in various French departments. Thanks to the support of several state services, France is providing them with protection, security, education and medical-social support.

The move testifies to France’s renewed desire to establish, in coordination with the Iraqi authorities, facilities for welcoming victims of ethnic and religious violence in the Middle East. At the same time, France is carrying out actions with these populations in Iraq to restore favourable living conditions on the ground and help rebuild the territories liberated from Daesh control.